Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin
Moynihan-Cronin, c. 2002
Teachta Dála
In office
November 1992 – May 2007
ConstituencyKerry South
Personal details
Born (1953-03-31) 31 March 1953 (age 71)
Cork, Ireland
Political partyLabour Party
Parent
EducationDominican College Sion Hill
Alma materSkerry's College

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (née Moynihan; born 31 March 1953) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry South constituency from 1992 to 2007.[1]

She was born in Cork in 1953, but is a native of Killarney, County Kerry. She was educated at St. Brigid's Secondary School, Killarney; Dominican College Sion Hill, Dublin; and Skerry's College, Cork. Her father, Michael Moynihan, was a TD for Kerry South from 1981 to 1987 and from 1989 to 1992. She worked as a bank official before becoming involved in politics in 1991 when she was elected to Kerry County Council. She was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election as a Labour Party TD for Kerry South, succeeding her father. She was re-elected at every election until 2007.[2]

She held a number of Front Bench positions in the Labour Party, including, Spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Law Reform (1997–1998), Social, Community and Family Affairs (1998–1999), Tourism and Recreation (1999–2002), Social, Community and Family Affairs (2002–2003), and Equality and Law Reform (2003–2007). Moynihan–Cronin is a former chairperson of the Labour Party.

On 11 October 2005, she announced that she would not stand for re-election at the forthcoming general election due to ill-health. Her decision to retire presented considerable difficulties for the Labour Party to retain her seat, as the party performed poorly at the local elections in 2004, failing to elect any councillors within the constituency. However, on 28 October 2006, she announced that she would stand in the forthcoming general election, having overcome her health difficulties.[3] However, she failed to retain her seat.

In June 2011, she returned to politics when she was co-opted onto Kerry County Council to represent the Killarney area, filling the seat left vacant when Marie Moloney was elected to Seanad Éireann.[4] In 2013, she stood down from the council and was replaced by Sean Counihan.

  1. ^ "Breeda Moynihan-Cronin". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  2. ^ "Breeda Moynihan-Cronin". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  3. ^ "Moynihan-Cronin will stand again for TD". RTÉ News. 28 October 2006. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  4. ^ "June Ordinary Meeting 2011" (PDF). Kerry County Council. 20 June 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.